Twelve rangers were among 17 people killed in an April 24 attack by gunmen within Virunga National Park [9], the critical highland gorilla preserve on the eastern border of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Park administrators in a statement [10] said rangers came under "a ferociously violent and sustained ambush" as they were coming to the aid of a civilian vehicle being waylaid by armed men near Rumangabo village. "This is a devastating day for Virunga National Park and the surrounding communities," park officials said.
The gunmen are believed to belong to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR [11]), one of several armed factions that have for years been using the park as a staging ground [12], and are linked to poaching and illegal logging operations.
Nearly 200 among the park's dedicated team of 700 rangers have been killed [13] over the past years. In 2014, unidentified gunmen shot and wounded [14] the park's director, Emmanuel de Merode, an internationally renowned Belgian conservationist. In May 2018, the park was closed [15] for eight months after a female ranger was killed [16] and two British tourists and their driver were kidnapped.
On March 23, Virunga, Africa's oldest national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site [17], was ordered temporarily closed [18] after scientists warned that wild primates could be vulnerable to complications arising from COVID-19. (NYT [19], BBC News [20], Al Jazeera [21])
